5 Things About Marriage — Guest post from Jessica

Hey y’all. I’m excited today to have Jessica from O. Alouette guest posting today. She’s a super creative person who shares fun tips all the time on her blog, Y’all should check her out. If you are visiting from Jessica’s blog :: wave :: hey Y’all! Welcome to Our Marriage Adventure – my blog where I like to share the “real story after I do!” I sure hope y’all will stick around and enjoy some of my stories - in the meantime take it away Jessica!

Hi everyone! I’m Jessica from O. Alouette. I’m a southern girl who blogs about makeup, books, movies, clothes and other things I love. I’m so excited to be guest posting for Stephanie today!

My husband Kameron and I recently celebrated our 2 year wedding anniversary. I thought it would be the perfect time to share the top five things I have learned so far about being married.

1. Dating is still important.

Marriage can seem like a downhill slide after all the fun and spontaneity of dating. Now that you’re hitched there’s no need to impress each other, right? Wrong. I’ve learned that it’s so important to keep an interactive dating relationship with your husband. Go out to eat, have him take you to a movie, get dressed up and go to a concert. It’s so easy to stay at home in your sweatpants and watch movies on the couch (which is also fun and done quite a lot around here) but be sure to balance that out with time that helps you remember why you got married in the first place. Have FUN together.

2. The laundry basket is and will probably always remain an enigma.

If I had a penny for every time I told Kameron to put his socks in the dirty clothes or hang up his towel I would be a bajillionaire. Sometimes it’s just easier to accept the fact that men do not hold the laundry basket in the same priority that women do. It drives me crazy but at the end of the day I try to remind myself that I am being a loving and helpful wife just by doing something as simple as cleaning up his clothes. And he is a loving and helpful husband by helping me out with things I don’t enjoy doing. Like putting the silverware in the dishwasher away.

3. Communication is key but sometimes boys don’t want to talk about feelings.

Being female, I have an intense desire to know everything about everything. As in, “Kameron how was your day? What did you do? Who did you talk to? What are you thinking about?” and most importantly, “How did that make you feel?” It baffles me when he doesn’t have an answer to all of my obnoxious nagging questions. But here’s the truth: sometimes guys don’t want to talk about their feelings. And even crazier, sometimes they don’t have all the feelings that we emotional roller coaster riders do. So if your guy doesn’t want to answer every little question it doesn’t mean he’s hiding something or being weird – he just doesn’t have an answer.

4. Fighting is not always bad.

Calling names and placing blame is bad. Fighting in a constructive, respectful manner is good. Get to the root of the problem and work out a solution. This is where that great relationship word compromise comes in. Sometimes the smallest thing will set me off – see #2. Kameron and I both know that if I get super upset about his dirty towel on the floor I’m most likely mad about something deeper. It’s better to put the real issue out on the table than to lash out and say things you don’t mean. So if you’re upset, talk it out. Don’t let your anger become passive aggressive and resentful.

5. Embrace (or at least accept) each other’s quirks.

I’m kind of weird. I’ll be the first to admit that. I put my ice cream in the microwave for 12 seconds before I eat it. The sound of boiling water freaks me out. I enjoy milk with my pizza. When you’re married all the strange starts to come out. Here’s a fun fact: Sometimes Kameron brings his own plastic silverware to restaurants because he’s a bit of a germ freak. So I just roll my eyes and laugh and move on. I’ve got quirks too and most of the time they aren’t worth getting mad about.

Marriage definitely has its challenges but it’s totally worth it. Knowing that someone is there who has your back and loves you no matter how awful you look makes the hard days easier and the great days even better.

Thanks Stephanie for letting me share a little piece of my life with your readers!

Jessica these were all great tips and ones every couple can remember even if they are married 5, 10, or 50 years! (Don’t we all just hope to get to that big ol 50 year mark?? I sure do!) Also, I’ll be the first to admit your cute anniversary photo idea is totally getting stolen by me this September. Thank you again for guest posting!

Y’all I am always looking for fun new guest posters so if you are interested, have a funny story to share about marriage or relationships, tips that you think would make life easier like Jessica, or perhaps have a unique engagement / wedding story then shoot me an email at MsMarriageAdventures@gmail.com so we can work out a time for you to submit your guest post!